Author: John Bliss

An American tourist was recently rescued from Mt. Vesuvius in Italy. The cause? The 23-year-old Brooklyn man was attempting to retrieve his mobile phone that had dropped into the infamous volcano. The carabinieri of the provincial command of Naples report the man was hiking an unauthorized trail accompanied by three relatives, as were at least two other tourists. The path had clear signs warning of danger, and intrusion was expressly forbidden. Thankfully, the man did not suffer any significant injury, only sustaining bruises on his hands, arms, and back. After being rescued, he was treated by an ambulance at the…

Studiocanal has greenlit the latest attempt to create a biopic focused around music superstar Amy Winehouse. Sam Taylor-Johnson will direct. While perhaps better known for directing “Fifty Shades of Grey,” Taylor-Johnson has also shown she can handle the kind of heavy material that is a necessary part of Winehouse’s rise to stardom and ultimately fatal involvement with drugs and alcohol. Her previous work on “A Million Little Pieces,” based on the fabricated memoir of James Frey, showcases her ability to infuse care and nuance when representing the humans at the center of these stories while simultaneously taking an unflinching look…

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined the fast-paced vampire-filled action of the “Blade” franchise, the overblown comedic spectacle of “Bad Boys,” and then added Snoop Dogg? Then Netflix’s upcoming film “Day Shift” looks like the exact movie for you. The movie stars Jamie Foxx as a hard-working, blue-collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his daughter. Unfortunately, he has to raise $10,000 or she and his wife will move to Florida. So he falls back into the only job that will pay that kind of money in a short amount of time:…

Japan public broadcaster NHK has confirmed that Kazuki Takahashi, creator of the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, has passed away. Firefighters found Takashi floating and wearing snorkeling gear near the islands of Okinawa Prefecture. He had apparently traveled alone to the popular vacation destination of Nago, and on Wednesday tourists spotted his body and contacted authorities. Japan’s Coast Guard is investigating the cause of death. There is little that can be said about legendary creator Takahashi’s legacy that has not already been said. He started his career in comics in the 1980s, publishing Tokiō no taka in 1990 and Tennenshoku Danji Buray…

Here’s a legal head-scratcher for all you contract nerds out there. Lena Headey is being sued by her former UK talent agency, YMU (formerly Troika), over unpaid commission fees relating to a number of projects including Marvel Studios’ upcoming “Thor: Love and Thunder.” While Headey does not appear in the final cut of the film, the agency claims they are owed money for ‘getting her the part.’ This is where the story gets weird. According to court documents, Headey originally joined YMU/Troika in 2005 after her personal representative, Michael Duff, transferred there from his previous agency, Lou Coulson Associates. Duff…

Until early this morning, KISS Radio 104.9 FM was a typical soft-rock station based in Vancouver. But then something happened. Since at least 8 am local time, the station has been playing “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against The Machine, nonstop. There is no interruption for ad-breaks or DJ patter. There’s no weather update or traffic information. There is only Rage. There are a few theories. The Guardian speculated that perhaps it’s a stunt to indicate a change in the station’s programming, transitioning from contemporary soft rock to 90s hard rock. Maybe it’s a very late shout out to…

An anonymous group calling themselves ‘Wizards for Justice’ posted an open letter on Twitter. In the letter, the group heavily criticized Hasbro, the parent company to Wizards of the Coast, for failing to comment on the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. The group claims to be employees of WOTC, which most notably makes Magic: The Gathering.The letter calls on Hasbro to “acknowledge the disproportional impact this ruling has on marginalized people, fully disclose details on additional healthcare travel benefits – as many other companies have already done, and include Wizards representation in future conversations about healthcare benefits…

You might not have noticed, but most retailers actually have too much stuff. Not in a your-dad-complaining-about-how-consumerism-is-out-of-control way (well, not *just* in that way), but in an overflowing-inventories way. Stores are having to contend with a surplus of goods that people just aren’t buying fast enough or keeping long enough. Typically, this is solved by massive discounts but that doesn’t always cut it. CNN reports that some of the biggest store chains, including Target, Walmart, Gap, and American Eagle Outfitters are considering a new strategy: letting customers keep their returns. Burt Flickinger, managing director of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group,…

Marvel Studios star Chris Pratt says his take on Mario will be “unlike anything you’ve heard.” Frankly, this has us worried. Mario mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto announced Pratt would be voicing Mario back in 2021, and people had some…divided opinions. In the wake of Nintendo’s Direct presentation which revealed the full cast of the upcoming animated Super Mario Bros. movie produced by Illumination, a lot of people voiced their disagreement with the casting. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. Pratt was not without defenders, but they seemed to be mostly either dismissive pundits, celebrity friends, or people invested in the…

Amazon has a tendency to make things that are simultaneously the neat hallmarks of a technological future and features of cyberpunk dystopia. Their digital assistants are a great example; they can connect all your devices so they work together like never before, but they might also try to electrocute your ten-year-old. Oh, and they’re probably spying on you. Gizmodo reports Amazon is apparently working on a feature that can synthesize short audio clips of a person’s voice, and reprogram it as longer speech. In other words, it will analyze the pattern of your voice and combine those patterns into new…